Snow Outside My Window

 

We had a snowstorm recently and received around 8 - 10 inches of snow. Along with the snow we have had very cold temperatures below freezing. That is a bit uncomfortable if you have to go out and shovel, but luckily my car is in our garage and the maintenance staff does a good job of plowing right up to the garage door as well as the front door. I just have to be patient until the get it done. I didn't mind the wait and painted the view out my living room window. I used watercolors, watercolor pencils and Neocolors. I didn't go out at all the day of the snow, but I did peek out to make sure they had plowed near my garage entrance.

Broken

I am hosting the current Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt. One of the items I have on the list is broken. I made sure to have eggs for breakfast, rinsed the shells, and put them on the side to sketch later. They were on the counter most of the day. Of course when I went to get them for the sketch they were gone. Jerry had cleaned up. Luckily they were at the very top of the trash bag, and I was able to rescue them. This was done on Strathmore toned paper with Neocolors. 

Lunch, Anyone?

 The Tangram Mall had a lot of delicious-looking restaurants. A few of us ate at one pulled noodle shop but didn't sketch there. I went back upstairs to a restaurant I had seen earlier that had a huge window that opened to the kitchen where you could see them cooking. I didn't have a long time to sketch but I got down some of the basic lines for the people and the kitchen area. I started painting but knew that show-and-tell was starting. I snapped a foto and went downstairs to join everyone else. The rest of the sketch I finished at home.

Here is the group after show-and-tell.

Anime Characters

 On a frigid day the NYC Urban Sketchers met at Tangram Mall in Flushing. I was a bit skeptical that a mall would provide anything interesting to sketch...but I was wrong. I felt like I was in another world because it was filled with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean stores and restaurants. I could easily sketch there again without running out of subjects.

Along with my friend, Susan Toplitz, I sat in front of Akiba House, a shop that sells anime related items, Japanese snacks, etc. The window display for the shop was great with the anime characters and the backdrop with anime cartoons. Many people stopped to check out our sketches and the young kids gave us their seal of approval.

Pens, Pens, Pens

 I have a love of Lamy pens and I have a few. Each of these is filled with a different color waterproof ink...black, grey, and brown. Each comes in handy in different situations.

Years ago I visited an internet friend who lived in Italy. I knew her from online, but this was the first and only time I met her in person. After a day of art activities together I had to head back to Florence to catch my train back to Venice. We planned that day to explore a bit of Florence. One of the places we stopped was the Fabriano store where Robin taught me a bit about Lamy pens. I bought the red one that day. We stopped for lunch and there at the table Robin gave me a lesson on filling and installing a converter in the pen and how to care for it. I remember that time often when I look at my Lamy pen.

Sadly Robin passed away a few years later and I never got the chance to spend time with her again. I am so glad I did travel to meet her and spend a bit of time with her. I thank her for her inspiration.

Here we are in Robin's living room during that visit.

Leslie K

During the winter most of the boats here are in dry-dock and covered, but I found a few boats along Brown's River that were still uncovered. Leslie K was uncovered but out of the water in Sayville. 

Panera with Procreate

 We had a stretch of very cold weather recently. It was too cold to sit in my "mobile studio" without keeping the engine running, so I looked for an indoor location for sketching. I hadn't been to Panera in a while so I stopped for a coffee and a sketch. They have a front area that has tables and booths that have a pretty good view of the counter.